Report: Aston Villa 0-0 Arsenal

An ambitionless Arsenal plodded their way to a staid 0-0 draw with Aston Villa this evening.

Arsene Wenger made a number of changes. Kieran Gibbs replaced Thomas Vermaelen at left back with the captain left on the bench. Carl Jenkinson came in for Bacary Sagna while Aaron Ramsey started in place of Jack Wilshere in midfield.

The early stages of the game were very cagey with Villa working hard to close down Arsenal as high up the pitch as possible. And the home side started more brightly with good possession and some efforts on goal. Szczesny was forced into a near post save from Westwood and Benteke headed well wide from a corner as Arsenal struggled to get into the game.

Arsenal’s first attempt on goal came in the 19th minute when Oxlade-Chamberlain cut inside the Villa box from the right hand side and fired a left footed shot not far of the near post.

Lukas Podolski almost found himself open in front of goal in the 27th minute but Brad Guzan did well to smother. Shortly afterwards, after a bit of a scramble in the Villa box, Aaron Ramsey forced Guzan into a good save with his feet after a low shot.

The conditions were difficult for both teams with heavy rain and a slippy pitch, and Arsenal were almost punished when Wojciech Szczesny, having caught a high ball, slid out of the area and was penalised by referee Lee Mason. From the resulting free kick Ciaran Clarke lashed the ball from after a well worked routine but was correctly given offside.

The Gunners could have gone ahead in the 44th minute. Laurent Koscielny won the ball, drove forward, Giroud crossed from the left hand side, it came to the Frenchman just outside the 6 yard box but with the ball slightly behind him and on his weaker foot he scooped it over the bar.

We had the first chance of the second half. Oxlade-Chamberlain came forward, played it inside to Cazorla, there was a little give to Giroud who flicked it back to the Spaniard and he unleashed a shot from the edge of the box which wasn’t far wide.

The 57th minute saw more good work from Oxlade-Chamberlain down the right hand side, he got past the defender, fired in a low cross but Ramsey, arriving outside the near post, couldn’t quite get not enough on it to get it on target. If you get me.

After great work to win Arsenal a corner, Aaron Ramsey had a chance to score from the resulting set-piece. Olivier Giroud headed on, it came to the Welshman at the back post but he sidefooted over the bar.

Villa also threatened, one break saw them outnumber Arsenal at the back but that broke down, then good build up play fashioned a chance for Agbonlahor which Szczesny saved well. Benteke was a constant threat, winning headers and while none were particularly dangerous it was good play from the Belgian Arsene Wenger thought about signing this summer.

Aaron Ramsey was Arsenal’s most productive player in the 2nd half and he pulled a shot not far wide from distance, before Holman forced Wojciech Szczesny into a brilliant save as his rasping shot hit the crossbar off the keeper’s fingertips.

Arsenal brought on Gervinho in place of Podolski, whose first two touches provided Villa with a goal kick and a throw in respectively; Arshavin for Oxlade-Chamberlain and late on Coquelin for Giroud – a change which was met with boos from the travelling fans who knew the team needed a goal. Although there is a midweek game it’s hard to understand what the manager was thinking.

Andrei Arshavin almost found Gervinho with a cross from the left hand side but Ciaran Clarke made a vital interception, and late on Coquelin had a chance to put in a cross from the right but skewed it out for a goal kick with the final kick of the game.

This looked like a game that Arsenal were trying not to lose rather than trying to win, and when you consider the opposition that’s hard to take.

If we continue with such shitty performances during December (when we play most of the lower table opposition), might as well be.
We can only hope that spurs are going to be shitty too (which they seem to be doing just fine for now).
Nevermind that the only “buy” in this transfer window could as well be Thierry. Again.

poor. but I’ve come to expect it. Even a Fabregas led or Van Persie led arsenal would’ve torn this team to bits. However, we have no captain now because he’s not even good enough to be in the starting 11.
Ramsey had his best game in an Arsenal shirt for me. But he was still bad. LOL.

Premier League yes, but we can still win the COCUP, FA Cup and if you’re as lucky as Chelski then maybe the Champions League(although this is highly unlikely). That said, I hope that £30 million pounds is used on a Diaby replacement, Vidal, Feillani, Fernadihno the latter two are more realistic buys imo it’s pretty obvious we needed his drive and spark in midfield, a left back to cover for Gibbs and a new striker for plan b. Giroud was really good today dropping deep and influencing the game but he just isn’t fast enough or have the necessary dribbling abilities to be a false 9. We should look at Andre Schrulle or to show ambition El Shaarawy or Lamela. Young, talented players.

we have had enough money to buy a striker , the only thing the new deal might change is not having to return a net profit on transfers every season

is there anyone here who ever thought we would not need another striker , even with giroud doing quite well ?
heck , i thought we needed one last summer when we already had that man 😛

i won’t be too harsh on gervinho, he is erratic at best let alone coming on as a sub after missing a few games.

looking at our squad

our defence looks alright maybe long term (summer) get an experienced lb to complement gibbs and get shot of santos (with vermaelen covering i think we should be ok this season). i heard there may be one available in london but he may swerve off the road if he gets even 5k less 😉

first choice arteta wilshere and cazorla are great but beyond that we have ramsey and coquelin and (l.a.n.s) diaby and rosicky
need cover for arteta since wenger doesn’t seem to have enough faith in coquelin to start , i doubt we will buy anyone though
as for cazorla i dont know how we would fare without him or who is his natural replacement in the team, i really think we should give arshavin a go in that position

striker well we need to get one, gervinho is not a cf and this is not the season to groom him into that role even if he may someday become one
huntelaar anyone ? gives us the option of playing two strikers ,will also let us rest giroud and not worry too much if theo departs and will not cost a lot since he is in his last year at schalke

i really think it may be time for a change at the top once this season ends
wenger is great but i sense there is too much of a comfort zone with him the squad and the board being happy with status quo
it wont be the end of the world
we don’t need to turn into chelsea or man city
look at dortmund
club spending within their means since they almost went bankrupt and consistently punching above their weight in the bundesliga and now europe

or i suspect the fans will no longer be too keen on paying so much for a team that doesn’t look like it will compete at the very top without a nudge to get two or three more quality (not 25m+ 🙂 ) players

Too late in January? It’s too late now, and it’s been too late for a long time now. Surely there aren’t any Gooners who seriously think this side can win the title? We’re already well behind the leaders, and nothing in this side shows that we can win more games than City or United. I’d say we look more like drawing or losing more games than them!

In defence, laying it all on the line for a late afternoon game at a rain soaked Villa Park isn’t the one ruddy game I want them to do it. Maybe a Super Sunday clash at Old Trafford, or hosting the champions would be better.

God that was dull, why on earth did we play giroud, and hardly put a cross in, apart from Theo noone seems to look for him or see where he’s going. And Wenger needs to have a word with santi, he was almost playing back beside arteta most of the time he’s no use there, he’s effective between the lines when we break. Ramsey seemed to be trying to make something happen, and jenkinson needs to stop marking tight not many will outrun him. Overall We looked toothless, so much for us being on a high from the last two games.

FUCKING DISGUSTING. Absolutely no effort out there. None of our players seem to care. This has gone on for too long. I am not asking for Wenger out. i don’t know how it’s gonna get fixed but it needs to. We have pussies playing for us who are gonna ruin our club. Get some fucking heart. Any one on this website wishes to be in their spot playing for arsenal and yet they don’t even seem to care about the club.

shouldn’t really need motivation when you are playing at the top level of football in the world and you know the prize out there and you also know how many people are supporting you waiting for a good result.

this isn’t sunday league football where the coach needs to huddle up his players and ask them how much they want to win. they should know better for earning 50k a week

so players are there like bunch of over payed idiots who need to be constantly pampered and be told to play well every fucking game…don’t these players have any sense of humiliation. please don’t give me that players need to be motivated by managers crap. Players are there on the pitch for a reason and these twats dont need to be reminded every fucking second to try to create chances and score some goals.

he earned after 16 years of service to arsenal…winning trophies and being one of the legends of premeir league managers. he didn’t just appear out of no where to earn £7m. But these players need to think what wenger has given them and be grateful to wenger and work their ass off and atleast try to show some respect to the arsenal color and the manager who has shown so much faith in them despite the fans barking like mongrels against him and his players all the time

it amazes me these ‘arsene out’ brigade. Who will replace arsene and how much board will give that new manager to spend and what will the new manager do with these bunch of toothless twats we seem to have hoarded.

Wenger’s youth project back fired and this is the consequence. And we are still trying to recover and implement some new project unknown.

Am not against Wenger sitting down on the bench like SAF’s statue as things go downhill so far he will do his WORK in the summer and winter rather than earning extra pay on tv while other coaches cherry-pick. Dont u guys think the best motivation Wenger can give Arteta is playing him with players of like quality? But what do we have? A shit Ramsey that will take the coach 3years to realize and another year to unverbally own up. Get a coach that isn’t a pussy and every other things fall in place. And btw, I dont seem to remember Arteta and Cazorla needing motivation when they play with Wilshere, but they can trust Ramsey with nothing, no wonder they stick together and refuse to go forward when our dear handbrake in human form is playing. Too much said already, as if we have a manager that cares or listens.

I think they tried hard. Aston Villa played well. Pressed us on the ball for 85% of the game (there were only a few spells when we dominated possession or they backed off) and had a solid game defensiveness.

We lacked incisiveness, not desire. Didn’t quite click in the final third either–it seemed the last pass always went a bit awry.

What is the essence of playing your ass out and it doesn’t yield anything?

Wenger is the problem, he bought them and put them there so he must fix it. Am not saying he should sacked but he needs to be told that he’s getting everything wrong on the pitch, but he is better with balance sheet which soothe the board perfectly!

Arsenal as cash reserves of £150m just sitting there. If you don’t believe me, read the accounts, it’s there in black and white, yet you think Wenger needs, or would spend an additional £30m sponsorship money.

When are you going to get it through your thick heads. Wenger is fucking loaded. He doesn’t push the boat out because if he does he has zero excuse for failure? He’s playing all the supporters and the gutless board are backing him up.

You talking sense but in here we have so many kids supporting Arsene and not Arsenal. They can’t dare to say he is NOT GOOD ANY MORE and only in it to make for him and the Yanks money to keep him in the job.

Could any manager in the world play a 6.2/3 striker with no crosses???
Could any manager in manager in the wolrd allowe a player like Ramsey into The Arsenal team and pay him 50K a week?
Could any manager while looking for a goal take off Giroud because he shoots from outside the area and not pass and keep Ramsey to move Forehead as striker against crap team??.
Could any manager be clueless for 8 years and the supporters come here to defend him???.

Agreed, I think people are getting a bit carried away here (fancy that, people over-reacting on an internet forum?!). Ok, we lacked a bit of quality in the final 3rd but we knew that already. I didn’t think we played dreadfully, we could’ve easily nicked a 1-0 – Villa really worked hard and defended very well. Disappointing, but a fair point on the balance of play.

they could have easily nicked 0-1, actually they nearly managed before our keeper intervened. And I didnt see any reason for arsenal to win the game today. Kos & Ramsey cleared the ball in 6 yards box but sadly it was the wrong box.

villa worked their ass off when they played manutd but still they got beat. but when the same villa play their same old ass off why these gunners twats have to suffer like some relegated team. I am beginning to think either arsenal is being overhyped or our played are seriously over hyped and need to be brough to their senses by kicking their nuts.

Poor performance, I find it hard to see where the drive comes from in these sort of situations. With new deals and what not going on I wouldnt be at all surprised to see Wenger leave in the not to distant future (I hate to say it). We need to show ambition and heart at the very least and all to often its lacking.

Sloppy all the way through.. Couple chances but nothing went in.. Dissapointing result. Just when Norwich gave us a chance to catch up 2 Everton we mess up. Oh well… We best get a good result at Everton this week!!!!!!!

That was terrible. Gervinho should be nowhere near the first team until he learns how to trap the ball, why the fuck was Ramsey playing instead of Wilshere. This team was on a roll with 2 wins in 2 games and so we rotate the squad and look ambitionless. WTF?

Arshavin looked decent though. he should get on or start a few more games.

he had his best game for us. He was one of the best Arsenal players on the field. yes. But he was still poor and I’d like to see a stat on how many games we win with him/without him.
The facts above also illustrate how poor the rest of our team was.

I feel like I must have been watching a different game. While Ramsey took a lot of shots, he also missed them all, and lost the ball several times with stupid theatrical passes. Would have loved to see Jack playing, or even the Coq. (With Arteta pushing up.)

I can’t think of a player who’s more frustrating to watch than Gervinho. At least in the case of Chamakh, Squillaci you know what to expect. But Gervinho just makes watching Arsenal more tiresome, especially on days like these.

Gervinho makes a poor impact sub in my eyes, he dosnt have a spark often enough to make a big difference in tight games when we cant afford to lose possession. He works best in tiring a team out from the start with his odd movement and when he will have plenty of time to make a few mistakes but hopefully a few chances as well. That said he isnt good enough to start in my eyes. So he atleast needs to come on earlier!

I commented in a post yesterday the Szczezza was a legend- today he proved why. Much in the same way that Messi can’t score on a cold Tuesday night in Blighty, so was Cazorla and Arteta man marked into anonymity. Therefore link up play and general creative duties fell to Ramsey, and he was bollocks. Not starting Wilshere cost us two points. A plus point, AFC’s strongest defensive trio are Szcz-BFG-Kos. Undroppable from now on. Anyway. On to Merseyside and closing down a 10 point gap to the leaders.

don’t know what game you were watching, but Ramsey was one of our better players, the ox played worse and he’s not been made into a scapegoat. We need to support our players when they try instead of automatically having a go at them for something that they do not shoulder the blame for. Have a go a the real piles of shit today such as Gervinho

all the shite performances today and you pick on Arshavin.
At one point he was literally telling Ramsey where to stand rather than running into him.
Ox tried to take on the whole team on he;s on , its like old theo all over.

I think Arshavin delivered the two most dangerous crosses of the game. It took a remarkable clearance by a Villa defender to get the ball away from Gervinho after a delicately lofted ball from the left. It would have been shades of Sunderland last year.

At least we kept a clean sheet. The team choices and subs were clearly made with one eye on Everton that will be a harder game, but you could see that the players felt it was a 3 point banker after Spurs and Montpelier… Disappointing but could have been worse

dull game
villa deserved the point
szcesney earned us that point with his save

positives
defence was solid
giroud is consistently good and becoming a crucial player ..aerial ability,hold up and few deft flicks as well
ramsey played well today, clearly not a right winger

negatives
we are dependent on cazorla and arteta having great games for results
we need another striker (was true beginning of the season as well)
this team is in a comfort zone , they dont look like they believe they can go any higher than fourth , point away at villa will do great for that target

this team is in a comfort zone , they dont look like they believe they can go any higher than fourth …

so true…these twats are really in the comfort zone. they have no ambition like manutd or manc. if manutd or manc can come back from goal down throughout this season so far and win… how come our twats let our lead vanish in thin air or seem so hopeless with team stuck in relegation zone.hate to glorify those manchester smucks but wish our team showed 60% of spirit those bastards shows week in week out.

I thought villa played with great spirit and gunner had none…maybe knackered by mideweek but why the fucking hell Ox and Jenks didn’t bother to cross. When Sagna and Theo were crossing the balls Giroud looked immense and cause panic in last two games…when you have striker very good in air, common sense tells that these young guns should be crossing rather then pinging the ball up and down the right flank without much penetration.

Horrible playing condition even horrifying lack of common sense from players of both flanks by arsenal. Thank god keeper made a great save to prevent a goal.

If villa are pressuring high up field then play long balls with giroud as point man…damn these single dimension playing style of arsenal. very disappointed!

Slow, ponderous, and so lacking in creativity. I’m usually a big Ramsay supporter but I thought he was poor tonight as was the Ox. It worries me alot that if Santis shackled we have no other creative outlet. Gervinho shouldn’t even make the bench, why Arshavin doesn’t come on before him I’ll never know, at least he makes things happen. Giroud coming off at the end was baffling. SO DISHEARTENING……January shopping please!

Being the best player of a bunch of players playing badly does not make ‘amazing’. He was a 6-7/10. which is ok.
However you’re logic could hold good when compared with Gervinho’s -3/10 performance. Maybe. Just maybe we need to send him to The ACN a little sooner

LOL indeed. Ramsey’s “amazing” performances apparently consist of not completely embarrassing himself. (OK, I’ll admit it’s an upgrade, but I was shouting at my TV set every time he hoofed a shot super high.)

What a fucking joke! Saw it coming before a ball had been kicked.Wenger took em to lightly. Arteta has been fucking shit last 4 games because teams won’t let him play and why should they? The Ox had another shit game. Pathetic! All this money were getting is really good but will the cunts spend it on players? Or even just an extra 10 grand on Theo? Can’t see it.Really getting sick of wenger now and his stubbornness

It’s tactical… Arsene COULD and SHOULD put Coq in as the DM and play Arteta a bit higher. Asking Arteta to cover the arses of our offense AND defense takes its toll. I thought Arteta had an average game… didn’t stand out, but didn’t make any crucial mistakes. Some backward passing, but that was better than the rest of the team’s horrendous passing today.

Is it just me who sees Arshavin create pretty decent chances in the 5 minutes he gets? Why isn’t he getting a longer run, at least 30 minutes in a game? Dammit.
Also, I am sorry to say, but whenever Ramsey and Gervinho play we go down a notch, despite Ramsey being somewhat okay today.

Rubbish display,i have to say this is the worst arsenal team i have ever seen. No fight,we loose out on the second balls almost often. Yes those days when we had the likes of fabregas,nasri etal,we might loose but we will play them of the pack and create loads and loads of chances. I dont know why wenger have to remove our most chance of scoring,podosky and giroud. Until now i always watch arsenal play and get satisfied irrespetive of the result. Now we play shit and can even get results. If we can beat villa who then do we beat?these bunch of lazy ass need total over haul. Players that want to play,that want to win. Im really angry typing this. For the first time in my life,this season i see myself ranting after arsenal matches.

Coquelin for Giroud? Defensive mid for a striker when we’re losing and need goals… seems legit.
Seriously what the fuck… I can’t describe how dissappointed I am, we just rolled over and let it happen… fuck me, stayed in to watch this, complete bullshit

ah, sorry my bad we weren’t losing, but to be honest we are the Arsenal and for some reason I still expect us to win every game, but when we draw like that to a side in the bottom 3 it feels like a loss

regarding the game, that was absolute shit. we really need to invest because as of right now no one on the bench to call upon. the midfield trio of jack santi and arteta is irreparable atm (diaby being diaby, no matter how much you love ramsey you have to admit he isn’t ready to be a game changer YET) and giroud has no proper replacement either. FUCK!

Disappointing performance today not helped by the weather, but that is not much of an excuse as both teams had to cope with it. I would love to know why the team are motivated for the scum, but when we need a win to push ourselves towards the top of the league we are found wanting. Too sloppy and lethargic in the first half and looked leggy in the second.
We need to move on now and put in a shift against Everton and that will not be an easy game, onwards and hopefully upwards. COYG.

I cant understand the subs made by wenger today. It seem Per was used as our focal point today and it made me sad watching the cross only came when giroud already off the field. Everton draw and chelsea/city might drop some point tomorrow definitely a must win match. Ruined my precious weekend.

seriously sick of the obsession with playing so called ” beautiful football” when it really gets us nowhere. we try to pass it out of the defence so much and against better teams it would have cost us just like it cost us against Fulham ( their penalty came from us screwing up possession).

have you watch arsenal this season!!!!! what beautifull football have we play! if at least we were playing good but you have 11 good players (yes we have some very good player in our squad) who look like they meet for the first time week in week out.
We have 11 players but no team on the pitch

I’ve said it before, now I’ll say it again. Gervinho is the worst player I’ve ever seen play for the arse. We need a proper winger in January. And a proper midfielder. And a proper striker. And a proper lb. and a proper keeper. And a proper manager.

I think Wenger has done amazingly in a lot of departments over the years, but i tell you what, he will top it all if he manages to qualify for the CL in May with this squad. This is a game where we needed some quality in the final 3rd, and we all know where that went.

I’m assuming you don’t want our arsenal between the years of 1953-1970 and 1971-1988 back, but the once-in-a-lifetime pre-oil money team that brought us glory during the first half of Wenger’s reign? And who do you want our arsenal back from exactly?

Give me a break, this isn’t the Arab Spring. We have a long-term financial plan which is why we haven’t been able to spend much since moving to our new stadium. It might not work out, but relax, it just might.

Lol your so funny and am guessing our long term plan is the reason we could not pay our players who leave or is it the long term plan that makes us sell our players to city and united, our long term plan is the one making us pay Wenger shit loads of money and our COO, when is that long term going to end when the now £50 million in the account turns to £200 for the board to share right

Exactly right. The club’s long term plan is for the board to split the £200 million and see who can build the best amphibious car that will get them across the channel and back before christmas. Arsene’s French roots might come in handy in negotiating the coastline – only time will tell. The remaining money will be spent on cigars for Peter Hill-Wood.

Arsene has been tactically dire for some time now against midtable/ relegation fodder teams, its worrying to say he least that these sluggish performances continues to plague us. Thought we were over the hump, clearly not.

I still can’t get over Wenger letting Song go and then not replacing him! Unbelievable decision!! It would of freed Arteta up and in his natural position. Don’t get me wrong tho because Arteta is actually a really good tackler but I dont like seeing him pinned down. That penalty miss has affected him I think…I’m gutted really. I would’ve played Sagna atleast today. I think 3 or 4 regulars rested and Theo injured was one to many out…

I agree restricting Arteta to a dm sometimes weakens us. You see with Man Shitty when they’re playing poorly, they push up Yaya Toure and relive him of his defensive duties to help the attack in the last 20-25 minutes. That’s something Wenger should look at, bring on Coquelin earlier on and let Arteta influence the game.

Well, from what I have seen I reckon Arteta has some problems switching, as if this was his more natural position and he was concentrating on it too much, while toure happily forgets about defense and rushes forward.

By the way… why are we the only Prem team playing Wed-Sat this week? I realize it’s no excuse for playing like shit, but the extra day off is immense both in terms of player recovery and avoiding injuries, the latter of which we already seem to suck at.

Villa play on Tuesday again, as do Sunderland, QPR and REading. Manure played today, again on Wednesday and Saturday, as do several other teams, including Tottenham, Everton, Fulham and everyone else in the league bar Norwich and Sunderland who play on Sunday.

Fucking hell, what is with all the negativity? OK we were disappointing but we still got a draw away from home when we didn’t play great.
Can’t believe all the fucking babies moaning about how we still won’t buy anyone, how Ramsey is crap etc.
Grow some fucking nuts and get behind the team for a fucking change.

To be fair i think most people are behind the team at the beginning of games and during, i know i will be against everton, but i dont think we have to stubbornly scrape together positives when i just watched what i did.

the players dont seem to have a clue about how to win, its like they expect teams to let them play. there is no reaction to opponents. nothing. just the same players pasing backwards and forwards, mertesacker to jenkinson to mertesacker to giroud to koscielny to mertesacker to szczesny to the touchline.

man city scored 5 against villa last week, and man utd got 3. it was probably as a consequence of a bit of effort. i did not see that today.

i would like to see a performance with some balls. i cant remember the last time that was.

Well said,I’d give you two thumbs up if I could!!!
No disaster today & Wenger is obviously looking forward to the Everton game,if we can get a win there (and we CAN) then 4 points from these 2 games is a good result.

i’ve read that wenger believes its around the 70-75th min mark where most players physical abilities drop drastically, i suspect that that might’ve been very true years back when we were fitter compared to the rest of the league but as we’ve seen over the years, plenty of teams have personnel that are just as fit if not fitter then our lads. Add to that the fact that plenty of our lads we have at the moment aren’t as good athletes as our previous players and i fear that this might yet be another sign that wenger is very much stuck in his antiquated ways.

If you make a tally of all the substitutions wenger has made, there are more times where they’ve failed to make a positive impact as compared to the times that they’ve changed games for us so that alone should tell him that his method of always making changes around the 70th min mark is not as effective as it could/should be.

For those calling for wenger to be sacked I have news for you it would never happen, the board will not sake a manager who makes them millions in profit every year, the board is not ambitious they are only interested in making money, we have the highest paid COO one of the highest paid manager in football and yet we can’t seem to pay decent wage for our best players so we can win

Methinks we need someone to dovetail with Santi, without him having to drop back so much to get the ball. Jack does that so well, pity he can’t play every game. A proper ball carrying mid between Mikel and Santi would go a long way to solving our troubles against teams with stubborn defences and high pressure. Someone drug Diaby and put him on a slow lifeboat to China.
Arsene, spend da ting!!

very disappointed, borderline disgusted, extremely frustrated. I am certainly no tactical expert and being american I already have a few knocks on me (so take this for what its worth) but it seems to me that passing backwards is not the best way to relieve the pressure, if anything it invites more pressure allowing more guys to come up and press while pinning you deeper in your own end with your back to the offensive half of the field and dont slip up! It certainly seemed like their was little effort on the part of the players but shouldnt changes have been made tactically when your being shoved into the ground??? I keep waiting, wanting AOC to start to take over a game and today was a perfect chance but he didnt, is this from a lack of playing time? I assume so cause look at sterling over at liverpool he just seems to get better and better and his manager allows him to play regularly!
Also was it just me or by end game when Aston Villa players went to ground they expected to get the call (and got it) but when Giroud gets stepped on the ref fucking circles around him and runs off !!

I wont get started on the sub options or the too-little-too-late sub moves made

Poor effort in terms of getting goals, really poor. Koscielny should have buried that chance he got, my gosh what a sitter. But I guess it shows the state of affairs when im berating our CB for a missed chance that wasn’t a set piece. Oh yeah would have been an assist for Giroud as well. Funny isn’t it, him out on the wing doing his best…

Crushing blow for me was taking off Giroud, our most potent attacker in terms of effort, aerial superiority and form (of late) for a midfielder who has been used in a more defensive role when he has come on. Fuck me that actually pissed me off. Would Arsene take off van persie in that situation? no. Granted, Giroud was probably guilty of trying too hard i.e. taking long range shots etc but stats show that if you loft a ball into him then more often then not the keeper is left dumbfounded.

Bringing on Arshavin was quite a positive because he usually crosses well for Giroud or gets magical assists. Relying on Gervinho in the CF position with Arshavin in the wing is tricky in my humble opinion especially with that amount of time left. Ox had a poor game by many standards but he could have easily got an assist or a goal and his attacking runs are appreciated (as no one else seems to want to take on a LB/RB and beat them).

Ferguson would have finished that game with four strikers on the pitch…..HE would have gone for it. But not Wenger. If we lose to Everton, Wenger will look a complete and total arse for fielding that side.

We had no one in midfield who could turn on a six-pence and drive forward. I’m also sure Cazorla could be doing more to get some space, he’s an international footballer and he got marked out of the game by some kids.

That was pathetic. It was not the first time in the season that the team looked like they don’t have a second gear.
That lift we used to get from an unorthodox Song move is gone! We seem like we lack a onfield change in tactics.
I don’t knock Ramsey because he tries so damn hard, but he does not have that last clever ball in him.
We need radical; start Arshevin or put Santos(Wenger has throttled him this season, that creative joy in his game is gone) in at left midfield.

I understand all the reactions of frustrations but maybe I was watching some other game. Somehow we are not giving enough credit to Aston Villa and their game. Villa played a very good pressing game. They knew that our forward line had just had a mid week CL game and that constant pressing would disrupt our rhythm. Also, Villa themselves are not a bad passer of the ball.

In these kind of games, we need to take those half chances and it was very disappointing to see Kos miss a sitter. That would have opened up the game and with the conditions pretty terrible it would probably had meant opportunies to score on counters. Basically, with this team the biggest problem right now is that they find it hard to go from defending to attacking. We missed Jack’s energy and Theo’s runs today. I cannot fault Wenger for not starting Wilshere. If he does not give the lad a break and Jack got injured we would be spewing vitriol on him for using Jack so often. Basically, Wenger wanted to rotate a bit so that people like Sagna and Wilshere would be ready for Everton who are always a very physical side.

Somehow, I am amazed how we all can make blanket statements about players not having heart etc…I just wish Wenger had brought in Wilshere on for a while (although the playing surface being such, he may have decide not to take any chances today). Coq for Giroud doesn’t make sense because it shows lack of ambition but at the same time making Gervinho the striker and shoring up the defense so as to not concede a late goal seems equally pragmatic. I remember last year Man City went all out to attack at Sunderland and got hit on a break to lose in the last minute of added time. Mancini berated his players for not settling for a draw. Sometimes even these 1 points can be crucial.

My main concern was erratic finishing from our offensive players. I know lot of people here are saying that Ramsey was our best player. Maybe in terms of effort, that would hold true but if he doesn’t improve his finishing I am afraid he would end up a good squad player. Today, Ramsey got himself into some very good positions but at least three chances should have been hitting the target and not flying all over. He did himself no favors and did not change my opinion that Wilshere would be the 1st choice in that position. He also has no mitigating factor like Santi who has played just too many games and looked lethargic at times. Pity Wenger doesn’t use Arshavin a bit more because he can be a good sub for Santi in the creative mid role. Also, we badly need a striker on the bench. We could see clearly how we missed Theo today. Last season I kept mentioning here that Theo is so undervalued by Arsenal fans. All those people who were so keen to dump him for Chamberlain have gone so quickly into their burrows or are busy posting “Sign da thing” posts these days.

All in all, a disappointing result but not a catastrophe as lot of fans are busy mentioning. The imbalance in this squad shows through in such games and I hope we get ready for Everton fast because last year we were lucky to beat them in both the games.

if i remember correctly villa is not the first team to press arsenal from the top and it wont be the last team. arsenal is a team with single dimension game with no plan B. As long as we rely on plan A ,which incidently seems to be well understood by the whole footballing world ,we cannot compete with teams who really want to press us high and hit us with quality attackers. Manutd did that thing very efficiently and now villa also had the same desired effect. in both games we looked pathetic to say the least.

We have Giroud, a fine physical specimen with great aerial presence. He terrorised opposition with his aerial prowess and his goals are mostly headed ones. Common sense says if you have a big center forward who can head goals any time of the day, then the duty of either flanks is to provide him service or atleast try. When Sagna and Theo were playing early crosses to him, arsenal looked a very different team with huge attacking & scoring potential. So why these morons like ox, gibbs, jenks & poldi dont have the common sense to play with the strength of our CF and put crosses in danger area. Its stupidity at its worse.

If I were you, I wouldn’t put much hope on these players with everton. Fellaini will bully us to submission. we need to come up with better game plan then our current one because it has as many holes as swiss cheese.

villa are not the first and thats why its frustrating cause you can see it happening and know that just like last time nothing will be changed. I dont think that ox, gibbs, jenks, and poldi dont cross its just that today none of the crosses that came in were that good, also why would you only feature giroud when we already only “rely on plan A” and dont change isnt that making us less potent on offense?

also @ SG
I couldnt agree more that villa deserve alot of credit but they werent the only team out there and its OK to be frustrated with your team, you seem to want to let it out but wont!

It is pointless to keep mentioning he would never get into Man U and Man City squads. What a waste of time! If you are so enamoured by their squads please visit their blogs. Ramsey definitely needs to improve and I feel he will improve if he is able to move the ball faster and able regain his composure infront of the goal. The team not winning is not just his fault. Kos missed a sitter. Giroud had an opportunity to pass to Santi who was totally unmarked but decided to hit a weak shot at the GK. So stop this scapegoat mentality and give some constructive feedback.

Idiot…Ramsey was NOT the problem today,the whole team were lackadaisical,& criticising Ramsay proves your ignorance-if anyone should be criticised its the manager for his team selection & substitutions.

Replace Wenger with who they say. Fuck me. We compete for nothing every single year with Wenger, at least with a new manager there’s a chance of competing for something, and if we’d don’t what’s the frigging difference. I really don’t understand why people are so adverse to change – it’s completely illogical – especially when you can see how bad his tactics are, and his poor motivation and the hundreds of millions he’s spent on bollocks.

Change for the sake of it leads to Liverpool. Wenger is not perfect and I am sure there are a lot of managers who can do equally good as him but will they make us EPL winners? If not, then how is it any different from Wenger. Basically, Wenger has gambled on mediocre players for the last 5 years. Some have come good while some just couldn’t step up to the next level. This may not necessarily his fault. If as a manager you know that you have only a certain amount of money for your squad, you will look for best bargains that money could buy. Obviously, it a hit and miss affair. To those who feel Wenger doesn’t spend money, you should remember that Wenger paid close to £20 million (in today’s money) for Henry in those days of glory. So if he has substantial outlay for players (transfer fees + salary) I am sure he will spend it. Anyway, if we do have a hoard of cash at the club then why do we keep selling players each year. It shows to me that things are not all that straight forward as it seems.

That’s a bullahit argument. Barca changed from riikaard who won the ucl to guardiola. How’d that work out? Italian sides changes managers when they need to and milan, inter and juve all remain successful.

The problem is that Arsene isn’t just the manager at arsenal. He’s the fucking emperor. He’s infallible. We need a manager who’s sole focus is on winning football matches, not balancing the world economy.

The only thing that I am asking from this team is consistency. In one week, we experience the ecstasy of beating spurs and qualifying for the final 16 in champions league, and the next game we can’t do anything against a relegation-bound team. It makes me feel extremely bipolar and very disappointed :((((((((((((

I can’t believe everyone is being so down after the elation last week. Suddenly after one result we are sh*t and everyone’s c*nts again. Even players who put in the passion and played well, like Ramsey.

United were lucky to come away with anything from Villa Park having been 2-0 down at one point, and City struggled until they got a dodgy penalty given their way last week. This is probably a point gained considering we got to rest a few tired legs before the big game against Everton midweek. We did just play 90 minutes on Wednesday as well in case anyone’s forgotten. Villa had the week off to put up their feet and prepare for us.

I think smashing your closest rivals 5-2 is a pretty good result even if they were stupid enough to get reduced to ten men.

What about qualifying for the Champions League for the 13th season in a row with a game to spare? The players today were obviously lethargic which is understandable given how many important games they’ve played recently and have coming up.

So we qualified for the champions league, big deal. We have the 4th highest wage bill so we should always be in the top four anyway. And once we’re in it we hardly ever get anywhere. 1 final and 1 semi in 16 years, both lost. Do you celebrate every time Arsenal make the 5th of 6th round of the FA Cup? What a load of utter bollocks this 4th place trophy business is. No other manager celebrates it, only Wenger – anything to paint himself in a good light. How much more patronising can you get.

We still support Arsenal and are glad for the wins in the CL and last week. We’re livid at the piss performance today. How they all collectively played against a team in facing relegation. That’s all. Why? You want us all elated at a poor display?

If they played well but still drew, i think the mood would have been different.

Arsenal seem to do well when Walcott is playing. He appears to be the only one who can get through the opposition’s back line. Podolski is not a winger and lacks pace. I think that at the moment the Ox is a poor imitation of Walcott. We need to use some of the new revenue to tie Walcott down to an acceptable contract

mertesacker probably had the most touches of any Arsenal player in the first half which is depressing. No urgency. Only when Giroud dropped deep to collect the ball and turn did we liven up. Shit first half. Messy second half. Meh.

Lots of people with praise for Ramsey here. It’s become so ridiculous with him among our fans that every time he puts in a performance that isn’t atrocious he gets hailed by some and still others are ridiculously harsh on him. Personally, I think he could use a loan to a team where he can be their primary playmaker, it seems that continually playing him at DM and on the wings does not help his development.

This week, we have learned what Giroud is (a really hard working poacher/striker with both a hulk-smash and set-up header) and what he isn’t (someone who can pick the ball up deep and participate in build ups). We saw far too much of the latter today.

Couldn’t he have played Jack for last 15 minutes. My problem with Arshavin is he has no confidence to beat the defender anymore, Gervinho to put it nicely has no talent. Trouble is we know Wenger hates spending big in January and will keep faith in his current mediocre squad. Top 4 will be impossible if he does not sign quality striker, winger, left back and defensive midfielder. Quite worried how we will cope with physical Everton team on Wednesday.

Wenger’s tactics are basically do the same thing every week and hop it works. He’s scared stiff to change it because it would be an admission he was doing something wrong. He’s got no guts, a frightened chicken dragging this club to hell.

why does ramsey gets all the negativity even when the whole fu*king team plays as if they just fu*ked a horse and got too tired? benteke was controlling our whole team, especially during the second half. all I could hear was benteke. i think villa put on a good enough performance to get a draw. credit where credit is due. But the arsenal played made me to remember one of Led Zeppelin’s song -“Fools in The Rain”.

We’d all like another striker. The problem is that we only play one up top at a time, so it would be just swapping between the new guy and Giroud. I don’t think it would change very much, unless it was someone that can grab the game by the scruff of it’s neck and change it on their own, and how many of those kinds of players are available or are we willing to pay for?

We just rolled over and played dead. During the 06-07-08 seasons used to lament that we created almost 20 shots per game still scraped through with 1 goal or a draw. Now there are no chances either. Feel almost like Wenger jumping down the necks and shouting ” surprise” at those of us thinking last season’s comeback from the dead would be the turn in our lives. Meh. Seems like Arsenal and Arsene dont like changes.
Till death gooners.

Perhaps I am a tad slow (and blindly optimistic) but for the last 7 years I always expect us to push for the title – but this year is different, I have readjusted my expectations and I really don’t consider us competing for the title.
We do have some great players but something needs to change.
Enough is enough! Having been kept in the dark about our finances, pretending all is rosy when really we have sold players out of necessity. That phase is over and I now expect the board to raise standards.
Although props where due .. Wenger kept us in the top 4 when we had the budget of the a top 10 side.

Well the weekend is over and another crap result for us still more questions than answers. We seem to have this knack of keeping in touch with everyone else somehow! Could have been worse. Sort it out Arsene and change that bloody coat!

the highlight of Villa game shows that we played pretty well.
Ok, the result is frustrating.
Apart from that, the signs are good. Ramsey just could not get a break on scoring, playing well. Ashavin’s still smart.